FP2030 is extremely concerned for the rights of women and girls and their ability to access family planning services under Taliban rule.
The government of Afghanistan made a commitment to FP2020 in 2016 to accelerate access to rights-based, voluntary family planning. The country has added 645,000 additional users of voluntary family planning since 2012, recently increased the number of operational health facilities by 25 percent, and signed new agreements with private hospitals to provide many family planning services free-of-cost. The country was on track to reach a modern contraceptive prevalence rate of 30% – a goal it set in its original FP2020 commitment. It cannot be overstated how much women and girls now stand to lose after several years of hard-won gains.
In any humanitarian crisis, the reproductive needs of women, girls, and other marginalized communities are felt very acutely. We applaud the efforts of UNFPA, who will continue delivering family planning services, and the efforts of many others working tirelessly to deliver critical health care in these challenging circumstances. We call for safe, rapid, and unimpeded access for all humanitarian workers – both male and female staff – so they can deliver aid to civilians in need wherever they are, including sexual and reproductive health services.
All pregnant people and new parents have the right to access life-saving midwifery and other maternal and newborn health services. And moreover, all women and girls have a right to live free of gender-based violence and discrimination, including child, early, and forced marriage.
FP2030 remains committed to advancing the use of voluntary, rights-based contraception, particularly for women and girls in crisis, in Afghanistan and around the world.
